Save Me
by Kage Nightray
Summary: On the way home from the store one day, Lovino and Antonio find a boy lying half-dead in an alley. Though they don't know it, this boy will change their lives forever. Rated T for mentions of neglect. Human AU
1. Chapter 1

"Tomato-mato, Tomato-mato… Hurry up, idiot!"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming, Lovi~"

"Don't call me that. Chigi!"

Lovino Vargas was waiting impatiently for his neighbor, Antonio, who had gone grocery shopping with him. While he was waiting, he pulled a tomato out of his grocery bag, munching on it as he looked around. There was a side alley next to him that he had never noticed before. Feeling curious, he decided to explore the alley.

"Lovi, don't go in there!"

Lovino ignored his friend's shout as he went in. The alley was mostly empty; all he could see was what appeared to be a pile of rags a few feet away, against one of the walls. Upon closer investigation, he found that it was moving slightly; there was another kid in there.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lovino asked, poking the boy.

The boy did not respond; only his shallow breathing let Lovino know he was alive. The boy was covered with bruises and gashes; it looked as though he had been beaten and left for dead.

"Toni! Help!" Lovino called when he saw his friend reach the entrance to the alleyway. Antonio ran over to him. "What's wrong Lovi?"

"This kid is hurt and barely breathing and he won't wake up! We have to help him!"

"Okay, I'll call Gil's dad. He's a please-man, so he'll know what to do," Antonio said confidently, pulling out his emergency cell phone to call Officer Beilschmidt, who answered almost immediately.

"Gil's dad! We found a kid in an alley, he looks to be about Feli's age and he's really hurt and not breathing much and he won't wake up and-"

"Where is this alley?I'll send an ambulance and police officers," Officer Beilschmidt interrupted,

Antonio ran back out to the edge to see what was nearby. "It's between Tino's cafe and Maggie's, which looks like a drinking place. Please hurry!"

Antonio could hear shouting on the other end before Gil's dad replied.

"Antonio, I want you to stand at the edge of the alley so that they can see you when they get there, okay?"

"Yessir!"

"Good, I will meet you two at the hospital. You can tell the ambulance staff that you have my permission to accompany the boy in the ambulance."

"Okay!"

With that, the call was ended, so Antonio returned his phone to his pocket before watching the street intently as he waited for the ambulance. A couple minutes later, he heard sirens as an ambulance and two police cars came to a stop in front of where Antonio was standing. He began frantically waving so that they would notice him, then ran back to his Lovi and the injured boy once he was sure they would follow.

"Lovi! These people are here to take the boy to the hospital!" he said, gesturing at the men with the stretcher behind him. "And Gil's dad said we should ride with them in the amblance!" he added as the men loaded the injured boy onto the stretcher.

He and Lovino then followed the men back to the ambulance, climbing into the back with them. Both boys remained silent during the short ride to the hospital, praying that the boy would be okay.


	2. Chapter 2

At the hospital, they found Officer Beilschmidt waiting at the entrance. He pulled them aside and immediately began questioning them - mostly Lovino - about the circumstances in which they had found the boy. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell him much, as the alley had been completely empty besides the boy.

When Officer Beilschmidt was done questioning them, Antonio spoke up.

"Sir, can we get something for him? Like how Lovi brought me a tomato pillow after they took out my appendix?"

The adult's hard look softened a bit. "Sure. You two go to the gift store, I'll call Lovino's grandpa to let him know where you are."

Antonio brightened at this, his cheery expression returning as he dragged his friend off to look at gifts.

* * *

An hour or so later, the two boys were waiting anxiously outside the boy's room, waiting to be allowed in. A few moments later, a doctor emerged from the room and quietly spoke with Officer Beilschmidt before turning to the boys.

"He isn't awake yet, but you boys can go in and sit with him while you wait for him to wake up. When he does, can you please find out who he is? No one here has ever seen him before."

"Okay!" Antonio happily agreed as Lovino pulled him into the hospital room.

Antonio placed their present for the boy under his chair as they sat down on either side of the boy. Now that the doctors had cleaned him up some, they could see he had wavy blonde hair that came down almost to his shoulders, with one errant curl sticking up.

The boy appeared to be in pain, an expression of discomfort on his face. Antonio began humming a lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was younger while Lovino gently ran his fingers through the boys hair in a soothing manner. The boy relaxed in his sleep, his frown turning into a soft, content smile. Before long, Lovino also fell asleep to Antonio's soft humming.

* * *

Later, when Officer Beilschmidt looked in to check on the boys, he found all three of them fast asleep, the older boys both with an arm wrapped protectively around the injured one. He looked back to his two sons sleeping in the hallway, deciding to move them into the room with their friends. He carefully carried them in, without waking them, and took their chair in the hallway.

* * *

**AN: So, I have already finished the first few chapters, so I will probably be posting one a day until I run out, at which point the posts will come more sporadically. By the way, is anyone interested in being the beta reader for this story? My current beta - who is one of my friends from school - isn't replying on a timely basis.**

**Please let me know what you think of the story so far!**


	3. Chapter 3

_The next morning_

The boy awoke to the sound of quiet voices around him. He slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light. He tried to sit up, but found it was too difficult. This drew the attention of them two boys sitting around him, one of whom smiled at him.

"_Buenos dias, amigo!_ How are you feeling?"

"...hurts…"

The happy boy's grin faded into a concerned frown.

"Should we call the nurse?"

The boy nodded as he tried to sit up again, failing once more. The scowling boy on his other side helped him sit up while the happy boy dashed out of the room to find a nurse.

"My name is Lovino. The idiot that just left the room is Antonio. What's your name?"

The boy could tell that the scowling boy - Lovino - was making an effort to stop scowling. Oh, but he had asked a question. After a moment of thought, he looked up at Lovino, confused.

"I can't remember… _Pourquoi ne puis-je pas me rappeler_?" he said, his eyes filling up with tears.

Lovino quickly became flustered.

"Ack, don't cry! It'll be okay! Argh, what is it Toni does when Feli's upset… oh yeah, fusososo!"

The boy stared at him for a moment, then started giggling. Lovino's shoulders sagged in relief, only to tense again a moment later when he felt arms wrap around him.

"Lovi~ I knew you believed in the power of my magic cheering charms~"

"N-no I don't! They're stupid!" Lovino stammered, his face turning red.

"Lovi~ you're turning red like a tomato~"

"Don't compare me to a tomato! Chigi!"

The boy continued giggling, not noticing the nurse adding something to his IV, or the tall blonde man who entered the room behind her. A smaller blonde boy walked over to the tall man to say something to him, causing the man to frown in reply. He moved to sit in the chair that Antonio had been sitting in before, drawing the boy's attention to him.

"Hello, I am Officer Beilschmidt. I am currently trying to find your family so we can send you home, but I have nothing to work with right now. Do you remember anything that could be helpful?"

The boy's eyes filled with tears again as he shook his head. Lovino broke free of Antonio's hug to wrap his arms protectively around the boy.

"Jeez, idiot, can't you be a little more sensitive? Now he's upset again!" he snapped at the tall man, glaring furiously at him as the smaller boy started crying, leaning against Lovino, who tightened his hold in response.

Antonio snuck around back to what was formerly his chair and pulled something out from under it.

"_Amigo_~ Lovi and me got this for you~" he said, holding the object out for the smaller boy.

The boy peeked out from around Lovino to see what Antonio was holding. It was a stuffed polar bear, with a violet ribbon tied around its neck. The boy's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's… for me?" he asked, hiccupping as his tears stopped.

Antonio's grin grew as he nodded, tucking the bear into the boy's arms.

"Thank you," the boy said quietly, giving Antonio a watery smile as he squeezed the toy against his chest.

The tall man cleared his throat, drawing attention back to him.

"Well, we will hope that your parents report you as missing soon so we can send you home. Until then, you will need somewhere else to stay. You are welcome to stay with me, if you want," he offered.

The boy's eyes grew wide with fear as he began shaking. Lovino climbed onto the bed next to him and pulled him into a tighter hug.

"Don't be stupid, he will stay with me. Nonno would be happy to take him in."

The boy relaxed as Lovino said this, liking the idea of staying with the nice boy who liked insulting everyone.

Before the tall man could reply to this, he was interrupted by a loud thud on the other side of the room, followed by a shout of surprise. The boy looked over and saw a white-haired boy, who looked to be about Antonio's age, sitting on the floor while rubbing the back of his head.

"That hurt… West, where are we?"

The smaller blonde boy went over and whispered an explanation to the albino. When the blonde boy was done speaking, the albino jumped up to see the boy in the bed. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the small boy, then he grinned.

"Hiya, Birdie! I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, and the little guy over there is my brother Ludwig. Nice to meet you!"

"Hi Gilbert. Why'd you call me 'Birdie'?" the boy asked shyly, hiding behind his stuffed bear.

"'Cause Gilbird said you're awesome!"

"Gilbird?"

"Yeah, he's in your hair right now!"

The boy hesitantly reached up into his hair and was surprised when a ball of fluff jumped into it. Bringing his hand in front of his face, he found a small yellow bird sitting in it.

"He's cute," the boy mumbled, glancing back up at Gilbert.

"I know! _Vati_ got her for me for my birthday!" Gilbert beamed.

Officer Beilschmidt stood, distracting everyone from the conversation to look at him.

"Lovino, I am going to call you grandfather to see if he is willing to take in…" he trailed off, unsure of what to call the boy. The boy's face fell as he realized no one else knew his name either.

"Leo."

Everyone turned to Ludwig, who had just spoken loud enough for everyone to hear for the first time.

"His name's now Leo, until he remembers his old one."

Ludwig then returned to his book, ignoring the others' stares.

Gilbert was the first to recover.

"Well, Birdie, I guess your name is Leo now! But I'm still gonna call you Birdie, kesesesese," he declared loudly, bringing everyone's attention back to himself.

Leo's expression brightened as he squeezed the bear harder, clearly pleased with his new name.

Officer Beilschmidt quietly slipped out of the room to give his old friend - Lovino's grandfather - a call.

"So, Birdie, you're gonna be staying with Lovino's family? That's awesome! His grandpa is the second most awesome grown-up ever! He's still not as awesome as me, of course. Kesesesese"

Leo giggled, amused by Gilbert's way of talking. As Gilbert and Antonio chattered on, telling him about their families as well as Lovino's, Leo snuggled closer to Lovino. After a few minutes, Officer Beilschmidt briefly re-entered the room to inform them that Lovino's grandpa and brother would be arriving soon, and that he was going to get Leo checked out of the hospital. The chatty duo began gathering up everybody's stuff, still talking(although no one was really listening).

* * *

**AN: I love protective Romano... :)**

**Translation:**

_**French: Pourquoi ne puis-je pas me rappeler? - Why can't I remember?**_

**If it's a bad translation, please correct me; I just got it off of Google translate. I think the other phrases in various languages are fairly obvious; if I'm wrong, let me know and I'll provide the translation later.**


	4. Interlude 1

_Somewhere else in the city…_

A boy who looked very similar to Leo woke up, rolling over to look at his brother's bed. Suddenly, he bolted upright.

His brother's bed had not been slept in.

He ran to the front door of his house and threw it open, expecting to see his twin on the doorstep, having been locked out again. However, his brother was not there either. The boy began searching through the entire house, hoping that his brother had just fallen asleep somewhere in the house. But had his brother even come home last night?

* * *

After a complete search of the house, top to bottom, the boy ran into his dad's office.

"Daddy! I need your help, I -"

"Alfred, how many times have I told you not to disturb me when I'm working? I'll take you to the park later if you want, but you need to quietly entertain yourself for a couple hours until then."

"But Daddy, Mattie's missing, you have to help me find him!"

"Alfred, I told you, I'm busy. I don't have time for your imaginary friend."

Alfred gasped as he recoiled in shock. He knew that his dad didn't always notice Matthew, or would forget to pick him up, but he had never completely forgotten his existence entirely before.

The shocked boy fled the room in tears._ Maybe Mattie went to a friend's house for the weekend. I'll see him at school on Monday, _he reassured himself. Still, he didn't entirely believe it._ I wish Mama was here. She'd help me find Mattie._

* * *

**AN: Arthur was not the one who hurt Matthew/Leo, he just badly neglected the poor child.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here's the answers to specific questions in the reviews:**

**XxBrokenxBeyondxRepairxX: I think this chapter answers your question :)**

**Your Sister(Guest): Gilbert is nine or ten in this, and the most awesome grown-up's identity shall be revealed later.**

**Just for the record, here's everyone else's ages:**

**Antonio: 9-10**

**Lovino + Ludwig: 7-8**

**Feli, Leo, + Alfred: 5-6**

**I will post the next chapter in a few minutes, since this one isn't very long.**

**Please let me know what you think so far!**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: And we have the next chapter! This one's a lot **

A cheerful adult waltzed into the room with a small boy, who looked very similar to Lovino, at his side. Said boy immediately launched himself at Ludwig, tackling him out of his chair with a hug.

"Ve~ Luddy, I'm so happy to see you! Nonno didn't tell me you would be here!"

The older pair ran over to greet the newcomers.

"Hi Nonno! Hi, Feli! Aww, you're so cute~" Antonio cooed.

"Keseseses, West, you're turning red~"

Leo felt Lovino stiffen and look upset as the others lavished attention on the smaller Italian. He gave the older boy a questioning look.

"That's Nonno and my younger brother, Feliciano. Feli is better than me at everything so everyone likes him better," Lovino quietly explained.

"I like you better," Leo said quietly, snuggling closer to the older boy, who looked at him in surprise.

"Well, you don't really know either of us yet."

"But you saved me, and gave me this bear and offered me a new home. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did anyway. You did that, not your brother. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Lovino was shocked by how Leo's words made him sound much older than he actually was. The two sat there quietly for the next few minutes, until Officer Beilschmidt re-entered the room.

"Mio amante! It is good to see you!" Nonno exclaimed, throwing his arms around the blonde.

Officer Beilschmidt turned bright red as the slightly older adult latched onto him. As he began sputtering protests, Lovino added, "Oh yeah, and Nonno is dating the albino idiot's dad."

The two adults turned to him.

"How did you know about that?"

Gilbert snorted. "Oh, Vati, you two are so unawesomely bad at keeping it a secret. Everyone already knew except for Birdie."

"Birdie?" Nonno asked, looking confused.

"It's Gil's nickname for Leo," Antonio explained.

"Oh, hi Leo! I didn't see you there! You're going to be staying with me for a while, so you can just call me 'Nonno' like the boys do!" Nonno said cheerfully, smiling at the small boy.

Leo nodded shyly, tightly clinging to Lovino.

"You've been checked out of the hospital. A nurse will be by in a few minutes to disconnect everything and then you can leave with the Vargas family," Officer Beilschmidt said, his face having returned to its normal color.

"Ve~ he's coming home with us?" Feliciano asked, looking over at the boy curiously.

"Yes, Feli, that's why we're here, remember?" Nonno replied patiently.

"Oh yeah. Hi Leo, I'm Feli. Do you like pasta?" Feliciano said, moving to sit on Leo's bed.

As Feliciano was chattering at Leo, who was having trouble following the other boy's train of thought, Lovino noticed the adults quietly leaving the room, which he found somewhat suspicious. He quietly slid off the bed, missing Leo's panicked look as he pulled Antonio and Gilbert out of the room with him to go find the adults.

"Lovi, what are we doing?" Antonio asked, struggling to keep up with Lovino's quick pace.

"The grown-ups went to talk about Leo without us hearing, so we need to find out what they're saying. Shh!" he hushed the others as they reached the adults, and they hid behind a garbage can to listen.

"... probably shouldn't go back to his family, even when we do find them." Officer Beilschmidt said in a low voice.

"Why not?" Nonno asked, sounding confused.

"I believe the boy was neglected. He's far too thin, you can see his ribs. The look of wonder on his face when Antonio gave him that bear suggests that he is not used to anyone giving him anything. Then, of course, there's the fact that he's been here for twelve hours and no one has reported him as missing. What sort of parent doesn't notice when their child doesn't come home from school?"

By his point, he and Lovino were both shaking with barely-suppressed rage. Antonio pulled his friend in for a hug, allowing the boy to cling to him as he began sobbing. He and Gil began carefully scooting away so as to not be heard, deciding that they had overheard enough of the adults' conversation. The two did their best to comfort their younger friend while thinking about what Gil's dad had said. They made a silent agreement to make sure that Leo was given more than enough attention, to make up for his former family (even if the boy didn't remember them).

Their internal musings were interrupted when Feliciano came running towards them, his eyes filled with tears.

"What's wrong, Feli? Weren't you talking to Leo?" Gilbert asked, concerned. Lovino dried his eyes and looked up at the mention of Leo.

"I was, but then Lovi left, and Leo ran off to find you guys, and Luddy and I tried to follow him, but we lost him and there was a trail of blood for a while because he had ripped out the IV and stuff and it just stopped after a while and we didn't know where he'd gone so we came to find you and you have to help us!" the boy wailed.

Lovino and Gilbert had taken off running down the hallway before the boy finished talking, skillfully dodging anyone that got in their way. Antonio stood up a little more slowly and held out his hand to the younger boy. "Let's go tell Nonno what's going on, si?"

Feliciano sniffled and nodded, following along behind Antonio while Ludwig followed behind him. They ran into the adults a few seconds later, and Antonio gestured for Ludwig to explain. He provided a shorter, clearer, and less hysterical explanation than Feliciano had.

"I'll speak with the hospital staff so that they can help us find him. Ludwig, you and Feliciano go back to the room in case he decides to return there. Antonio, you go with this -" he gestured to Nonno here - "-and help look for Leo. Call me if you find him. Antonio, give your phone to Ludwig so they can call if Leo returns to the room."

He then left, walking quickly away from the group, ignoring Nonno's protests at being referred to as 'this'. The two pairs then parted ways to follow the instructions Officer Beilschmidt had given them.

After reaching the end of the blood trail, Gilbert and Lovino went in different directions, silently agreeing to call the other if one found Leo. They each checked every room they passed, every closet, every… anthing. But still, no luck.

A few minutes later, Gilbert found a door to the roof, which happened to be open. Naturally, he ran up the stairs and out onto the roof, where found Leo curled up in a ball near the edge, tightly clinging to the bear in his arms. He sent a quick message to Lovino and Antonio before kneeling next to the boy.

"Birdie? Are you okay?" he asked softly, reaching out to the boy.

Leo flinched back in response, causing Gilbert to draw back his hand.

"Birdie, what's wrong? Why did you run off earlier?"

He received no response. He remained in that position, trying to coax a response from the boy, until Lovino reached the rooftop a few minutes later.

"Leo? Are you alright? Feli said you were bleeding earlier, and why'd you run off anyway? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Leo finally looked up, confused.

"You were worried about me?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course I was! Why wouldn't I be?" Lovino retorted, looking confused.

Leo lowered his head again.

"I thought you were upset 'cause I was paying attention to your brother, and that's why you left. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, please don't be mad at me, please don't leave me again," the boy sobbed.

Lovino sighed as he pulled the unresisting boy into his arms.

"I'm not mad at you, and that's not why I left. I was just seeing where Nonno was going, I was going to be back soon. I am never going to abandon you, I will always come back, you understand? You're my little brother now, so I'm going to look after you," Lovino said fiercely, tightly hugging the boy.

"Really? Promise?"

"I promise. Now, let me see your arms, Feli said they were bleeding from detaching yourself from the IV and monitoring machine things," Lovino said softly, pulling back from the boy a little.

Leo hesitantly held out his arms, which were covered with bleeding cuts; some from the previous day, some from his recent escape attempt. Gilbert pulled a bunch of Charlie Brown Band-Aids out of his pockets and helped Lovino cover all the cuts.

Antonio and Nonno had arrived shortly after Lovino, and were silently watching - while taking pictures and recording with a video camera, respectively - in of them had ever seen this gentle and caring side of Lovino before, or of Gilbert for that matter, and did not want to interrupt this moment. It was clear to them that the two boys cared very much for Leo(though Nonno had the feeling that Gilbert's feelings were not brotherly, as Lovino's were)

The two decided to 'arrive' at the rooftop when they saw the three heading towards their hiding spot, jumping out after their camera's were safely hidden.

"Lovi~ It's good that you found Leo. Leo are you okay?" Antonio asked in concern.

The boy shyly nodded, but Antonio could see that he was a little unsteady on his feet. He looked to Gilbert, silently communicating his concern. The albino nodded and scooped up the smaller boy in his arms, frowning as he realized how light his Birdie was. To his surprise, instead of protesting being picked up, Leo just snuggled closer, feeling sleepy after all the excitement of the morning. The group quietly returned downstairs, Gilbert carefully avoiding jostling Leo.

**AN: Gilbert keeps Band-Aids in his pockets because he, Lovino, Feliciano, and Antonio are all rather accident-prone, and tend to need them most days.**


	6. Chapter 5

When they reached Leo's room, a concerned nurse rushed over and forced Gilbert to sit on the bed before examining the boy in his arms. Lovino sat next to him and began running his fingers through Leo's hair, glaring at the others, as if to say, 'Don't you dare say anything.' So Nonno and Antonio, remained quiet, resisting the urge to fawn over how cute Lovi was being.

When the nurse was satisfied that Leo hadn't worsened his condition, she went to quietly speak with Nonno and Officer Beilschmidt about caring for Leo, when to bring him back for a check-up, etc.

While the adults were talking, Feliciano sat down next to Lovino on the bed.

"Big brother?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I be Leo's big brother too?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I don't want want happened earlier to happen again. I want to protect him," Feliciano replied.

"Aww, that's so sweet~" Antonio cooed.

Lovino faintly smiled before glaring at Antonio. "Okay. Nonno will probably put him in your class at school, so you will be in charge of protecting him there, okay?"

"Yessir!" Feliciano gave a mock salute before collapsing in giggles, while Lovino simply rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.

When Nonno and Officer Beilschmidt were finished speaking with the nurse, they walked back over to the children.

"Okay, we're going back to my house now! Three of you can ride in my car, and the other three will go with _mio_ _amante_. Who wants to go in which car?"

"Leo and I are going in Nonno's car," Lovino stated firmly.

"I will too!" Gilbert added.

"But I want to go with Lovi…" Antonio whined, crossing his arms in a pout.

"Stop pouting, you practically live with them!" Gilbert snapped, glaring at his friend.

"Fine..."

When they arrived at Nonno's house, they were surprised to see a blonde boy crying on their doorstep. Gilbert ran over as quickly as he could - while still being careful not to awaken Leo, who he was still carrying.

"Francis? What's wrong?" he asked, crouching down next to his friend.

The boy threw his arms around his friend's neck, miraculously not disturbing Leo.

"Y-you w-weren't h-home! I-i th-thought something happened to you!" Francis sobbed, burying his face against his friend' shoulder.

"Shh, everything's fine. We were just keeping a kid at the hospital company," Gilbert whispered soothingly, already used to Francis's seemingly random panic attacks. Normally, he would also hug his friend to help calm him, but Leo's current position made that difficult.

Francis pulled away, confused as to why he hadn't been given a eyes widened as he saw the younger boy in his friend's arms.

"Toni and Lovino found him almost dead in an alley yesterday. He doesn't remember who he is or anything, so he's going to be staying here for a while. Until he remembers his name, we're calling him Leo," Gilbert quietly explained, looking at the sleeping boy as he spoke.

When he looked up, Francis was looking down at Leo with sad, gentle eyes.

"Idiots! Stop blocking my freakin' door! We need to get Leo inside!" Lovino hissed, suddenly showing up next to them while Nonno smiled at them obliviously from behind him.

The boys stood up and followed Lovino and Nonno inside.

"Leo will be sharing my room for now, so you can let him sleep on my bed," Lovino said quietly, gesturing towards the bedrooms.

Gilbert nodded in reply and walked off as Lovino turned to Francis.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped, his voice returning to its usual volume once Leo was out of earshot.

"I was looking for Antoine and Gilbert, they are usually here when they are not at their own homes, non?"

Lovino scowled. "Well, you'd better stay away from Leo, I don't want you corrupting him," he replied before stomping off in the direction Gilbert had gone.

Nonno chuckled, causing Francis to turn and give him a curious look.

"Little Lovi has become very protective of Leo, it's so cute~ I've never seen him so close to anybody before…" Nonno said, his expression turning sad as he spoke.

"Lovi~ I missed you- Francis, why are you here? Where's Lovi?" Antonio asked, looking completely confused.

Francis pouted. "You weren't home, and I was feeling lonely, so I wanted to see you and Gil but neither of you were home, so I came here."

"Ah, _lo siento_, Francis. I forgot to tell you where we went. Gil told you what happened?"

Francis nodded, still looking pouty. Antonio sighed and pulled his friend into a hug.

"_Lo siento_. I promise to tell you where we are next time, _si_?"

"Good."

The two stood there in silence as Feliciano, Ludwig, and Officer Beilschmidt walked in, following Nonno into the kitchen to make lunch. A couple minutes later, Antonio pulled away from the hug.

"So, where's Lovi and Gil and Leo?" he asked brightly, returning to his normal, cheery self.

Francis smiled. "They went to Lovino's room. I think that M-Leo's still asleep, though."

"Let's go check on them! Besides, I bet lunch is going to be ready soon, and we wouldn't want them missing lunch," Antonio said, pulling his friend off toward Lovino's room.

* * *

**AN: This is my last finished chapter, so the next update may be a few days. Thanks for the reviews! **

**spiritualnekohime4: They were near the alley in the first chapter because they had been on their way back to Tino's cafe! That will be explained further in future chapters.**


	7. Chapter 6

Lovino and Gilbert were sitting next to the bed in silence, watching Leo sleep. Both were really worried about their new brother/friend, particularly after what they had overheard and the incident earlier. The two had made an unspoken agreement to get along better for Leo's sake.

After a few minutes, Leo began to thrash around in his sleep, as though trying to escape an unseen foe. Panicked, Lovino shook him awake. Leo's eyes shot open as looked around with wild eyes.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were having a nightmare," Lovino said, sounding worried.

Leo latched onto the older boy as he began sobbing, shaking uncontrollably. Lovino hugged his brother and began mumbling words of comfort while rubbing the frail boy's back, trying to be comforting.

Gilbert watched the two, surprised at how big-brotherly Lovino was being; he had never seen the boy act that way with Feliciano. Then again, when would he have had the chance to? Whenever something was wrong with Fei, everyone would be at his side almost instantly to comfort the boy. Had anyone done that for Lovino?

Gilbert's train of thought was derailed as Francis and Antonio quietly entered the room.

"Lunch is going to be ready soon," Antonio said softly as Francis moved to cling to Gil (one does not cling to Antonio in front of Lovino unless one had a death wish)

Gil stood up and let Francis pull him back out of the room. Antonio looked expectantly and Lovino, who shook his head slightly and mouthed, 'We'll come out in a minute.'

Antonio nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Birdie was having a nightmare," Gilbert explained in answer to Francis and Antonio's unspoken question.

The trio walked silently to the kitchen, entering just as Nonno was about to leave.

"Ah, good timing! I was just about to go get you! Where's Leo and Lovi?" he said brightly.

"They'll be coming in a minute," Antonio replied with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well, sit down at the table and start eating! We're going shopping for Leo after lunch!" Nonno said cheerfully before sitting down and starting to eat his own lunch.

They followed and quietly ate their own food, watching the door for Lovino and Leo while Nonno and Feliciano chattered at their blondes.

* * *

A few minutes later, the missing two quietly entered the room and sat down, Leo sitting in Lovino's lap while still clutching his bear.

"Ve~ Leo, what's your bear's name?" Feliciano asked, smiling brightly at the boy.

Leo shrugged, squeezing the bear harder.

"Do you want help coming up with a name?" Feliciano asked, undeterred by Leo's silence.

Again, Leo simply shrugged in reply.

Feliciano's eyebrows furrowed as he began thinking. Lovino began eating his lunch, ignoring the pasta in favor of the tomatoes. After a couple minutes, Leo began eating the neglected pasta.

"I know!" Feliciano shouted, startling everyone at the table. "You should call him White Bear!"

Francis and Lovino stared blankly at him, wondering how he came up with such a dumb name.

Their opinions changed, however, when Leo's eyes lit up as he nodded in agreement, smiling faintly.

"Very good, you've decided on a name. Now eat your lunch! The lot of you have barely touched your food!" Officer Beilschmidt snapped, having become irritable due to Nonno's incessant chattering.

Leo's eyes widened as he slipped off the chair and fled the room, frightened by the man's tone.

"Nice going, idiot," Lovino snapped as he ran out after Leo.

Nonno frowned at his lover.

"You should be nicer to Leo. He didn't do anything," he said, making the man feel worse than he already did.

"Ludwig, Gilbert, hurry and finish your lunch. We're leaving," the man said as he stood up and brought his dishes to the sink.

Ludwig nodded in acknowledgement while Gilbert just scowled.

"No way. I want to go shopping with Birdie," he pouted, slouching down in his chair.

His father sighed.

"Fine. I'm too tired to deal with you right now, anyway," he replied wearily. "Come, Ludwig, let's go."

The small blonde followed obediently, waving good-bye to Feliciano on his way out the door.

Nonno looked troubled, but he smiled anyway. "Hurry up and finish eating, and then we can go shopping for Leo, alright? I'll get something for Leo and Lovino to eat in the car."

The boys continued eating. Feliciano looked around, confused. He hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on, but he knew that everyone was being quieter than usual today, and he didn't like it. So he continued his mindless chattering, hoping that it would cheer up the others.

* * *

Lovino found Leo hiding in the corner of their room, clinging to his stuffed bear as he shook in fear. He went up to the smaller boy and pulled him into a hug.

"Shh, it's okay. He didn't mean to scare you. He was just worried that you weren't eating enough," he murmured rubbing the other boy's back comfortingly.

Leo sniffled.

"'M sorry I'm always running away. Why does everything scare me so much?" Leo said, his eyes filling up with tears.

"I think it's understandable. You just woke up not knowing who you are not that long ago, it's okay to be scared," Lovino replied.

The two stayed there in silence while Leo cried, Lovino still rubbing his back. Once his tears subsided, Lovino stood up, bringing the smaller boy with him, and led him back out to rejoin the others.

* * *

**AN: Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. Random story time: my brother had a stuffed polar bear when he was little, and he actually did name it White Bear. It later became my younger brother's, and is still in his room somewhere, but the name has remained the same.**

**Please let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 7

When Leo and Lovino returned to the kitchen, they found that the others had already finished their lunch and were getting ready to go out.

"Ah, good timing boys! We are going out to go shopping for Leo! Hurry up and put on your shoes!" Nonno said cheerfully, holding out Lovino's shoes.

"Um… I don't have any shoes," Leo whispered, still clinging to Lovino's arm while clutching his bear.

"Well, we'll get you some new ones while we're shopping! For now, let's see if Feli's shoes will fit you," Nonno replied cheerfully, gesturing to a closet.

Lovino led Leo over to the closet and pulled out a pair of red shoes, which happened to be the right size for Leo. He patiently helped Leo put the shoes on - a difficult task for the boy who refused to let go of his bear - before putting on his own shoes.

"We should get him a car seat first," Lovino said as they walked out the door, Leo once again clinging to his arm.

"Okay~ We can do that! Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert, you three will need to sit in the front," Nonno said as they reached the car.

Antonio helped Feliciano get buckled into his carseat before following his friends into the front. Lovino buckled Leo into the seat next to him before fastening his own seatbelt.

* * *

The trip to the store was filled with Nonno and Feliciano's mindless chattering, with Antonio chiming in occasionally.

Once there, Nonno asked Leo what kind of car seat he wanted. The boy shyly hid behind Lovino, shrugging his shoulders in reply.

Nonno just picked out a plain black car seat.

* * *

The rest of the day continued in a similar manner; Nonno asking Leo what he wanted, Leo remaining silent, and one of the others picking out what to get the boy. In general, they tended to go with a polar bear theme, seeing how much Leo liked his stuffed bear, which he still had not let go of.

By the end of the shopping expedition, Leo and Feliciano were both worn out, clinging to Lovino and Nonno respectively as they tried to stay awake.

After they returned to the car and buckled the youngest pair in, said pair fell asleep almost instantly, Leo still holding onto Lovino's arm as he slept.

* * *

The others remained quiet on the trip back home, not wanting to wake up the sleeping boys. When they returned to the house, they were surprised to see that the lights were on, as they had turned them all off on their way out the door. There was no other car in the driveway, meaning it could not be Gil's dad.

The group cautiously went inside, Nonno carrying Feliciano and Gilbert carrying Leo, making their way to the kitchen, from which they could smell food cooking. As they entered, a short blonde man with purple eyes turned around to see them.

"Oh, hi guys! I came to check on Antonio and Lovino, because they never came back to my cafe yesterday, and decided to make dinner while I was waiting. Are you guys okay?" Tino said, smiling at the group.

"You idiot! You didn't stop in to tell Tino what was going on while waiting for the ambulance?" Lovino screeched, hitting Antonio on the head.

"Um… no. Sorry?" Antonio said sheepishly, earning him another whack on the head from Lovino.

"Ambulance? What happened?" Tino asked, sounding alarmed.

Nonno gave Tino a brief summary of the previous day's events while the younger man continued to work on dinner. Gilbert and Lovino went out to the living room to sit on the couch, laying Leo down with his head in Gilbert's lap. Antonio and Francis wandered into the room after them a moment later.

"Still can't believe you didn't tell Tino what was going on," Lovino grumbled.

"I said I was sorry!" Antonio whined, sitting on the couch as close to Lovino as he could.

"What the hell? Get away from me!" Lovino screeched, startling Leo awake.

At Leo's frightened look, Lovino calmed down, feeling upset with himself for scaring his brother.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to be so loud," he apologized, not looking at the boy.

He was surprised when Leo sat next to him and hugged him.

"It's okay."

* * *

**AN: And Tino has been introduced to the story! Sorry that this one took longer to post, writing it took longer than I thought it would.**

**Please let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 8

"So, Remus, you're adopting that little guy?" Tino said, sitting down by his older friend at the table.

"Yup! Lovi's become very attached to him, refuses to let the boy out of his sight. It's so cute!" Remus sighed, remembering the events of the day with fondness.

"Well, I'm sure Peter will be excited to meet him. It will provide a good distraction…" Tino trailed off, looking a little sad.

"From what?"

"His older brother moved to the area recently, but he refuses to come visit Peter. The poor child was devastated, you know how much he looks up to Arthur. He doesn't even have a good reason for staying away, he just doesn't feel like making the effort. Ooh, you have no idea how much I hate that man. He won't even answer the phone when Peter calls anymore," Tino ranted, growing furious.

"Tino," Remus interrupted.

"Yes?"

"You're burning the dinner."

"Ack!"

Tino jumped up from the table to return to the stove, pulling the pot off the burner.

"How's business at the cafe been?" Remus asked, taking advantage of Tino's distraction to change the subject.

"It's been going pretty well! It's a little difficult running the place by myself, but I've been doing pretty well. The boys help out sometimes while they're waiting for you, you know. It's so sweet! Yesterday, Antonio and Lovino had volunteered to go pick up some groceries from the store for me… although due to the circumstances, they didn't come back, as you know. I don't know how I missed an ambulance and police cars going near there… although I may have been a little pre-occupied with Peter. He and Feli decided that they wanted to help me in the kitchen yesterday… that didn't go very well."

Remus just listened patiently to Tino's ramblings, enjoying the younger man's company.

* * *

"Oh, Leo, we have a guest over right now," Antonio said, looking slightly distracted.

Leo clung tightly to Lovino's arm while giving him a questioning look.

"Its just Tino. He owns a cafe near the school, and we often go there after school until Nonno can come pick us up," Lovino explained.

"He is the third most awesome grown-up!" Gilbert added. "He makes really good pastries and hot chocolate!"

Leo wondered who the most awesome grown-up was, but was too shy to actually ask.

He was then startled as a voice shouted out from the kitchen.

"Lovi! Come set the table, please!"

"Why do I have to?" the disgruntled Italian shouted back, causing Leo to cover his ear.

"Do not argue with me, Lovino!"

Still grumbling, Lovino got off the couch.

"I'll be back in a sec, you can just wait here, Leo," he said as he walked into the kitchen.

He was surprised when the boy quickly followed him into the kitchen. As he moved around, getting plates, glasses, and silverware, Leo followed closely behind him, like a shadow.

"He seems really attached to you, Lovino," Tino said, smiling.

"Isn't it cute?" Nonno added with a grin.

Lovino glared at the both of them, but made no comment, nor did he protest when Leo began clinging to his arm again.

As he finished setting the table, Tino announced, "Dinner's ready! Why don't you two go get the others?"

Lovino motioned for Leo to sit at the table and cover his ears, then hollered, "DINNER'S READY, IDIOTS!"

This woke up Feliciano, who looked around, confused, before realizing that Tino had made dinner.

"Ve~ Mr. Tino, when did you get here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"I came over while you guys were out shopping to make dinner! I hope you like it," Tino said brightly as he set the food on the table.

The older trio of children entered the kitchen quietly, being mindful of Leo's aversion to loud noises.

Dinner overall was a quiet affair, the only ones talking being Tino, Nonno, and Feliciano. The others quietly ate their food, watching as Leo once again barely touched his food.

By the end of the meal, Leo had fallen asleep again, leaning against Lovino. Lovino quietly gestured for Gilbert to come carry the sleeping boy, and followed the elder back to the bedrooms. Gilbert lay Leo down on the bed before quietly exiting the room. Once the albino had left, Lovino changed into his pajamas before lying down next to the sleeping child on his bed. He then wrapped his arms protectively around Leo as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**AN: Sorry about taking so long with this chapter, I hit a mini-writer's block. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write.**

**Random question: Does anyone have a good idea for what Tino's cafe should be called? I have yet to come up with a good name for it. If you do have an idea, please PM me or leave a note in a review. Thanks!**

**Please let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 9

Monday

"LOVI! FELI! LEO! TIME TO GET UP!"

Leo fell out of his bed, eyes looking around wildly, until they settled on the groaning figure in the other bed.

"Ugh… school…" Lovino groaned, his eyes cracking open slightly to look at Leo. "Why don't you start getting ready, I'll get up in a minute."

Leo hesitated, then went over to the dresser and pulled out the first t-shirt he found. Lovino winced at seeing all the bandages covering the thin boy's frame.

"Are you sure you want to start school today? I'm sure Nonno would let you stay with Tino at the cafe if you asked."

Leo shook his head. "I sh-should at least t-try," he stuttered, showing his nervousness.

Lovino finally left the safety of his bed to give the smaller boy a hug. "You can bring White Bear with you, if you want. They won't mind."

"O-okay."

"And you know I'll go in with you while Nonno introduces you to the teacher."

"I know."

"And Nonno said I can come visit you at lunch."

"Really?"

"Yup! So don't worry. And we'll go to Tino's cafe after school."

Just then, Feliciano peeked his head through the door. "Ve~ Nonno said that breakfast is almost ready~ He's making pancakes~"

Leo's face lit up as he squeezed his bear, looking expectantly and Lovino.

"All right, I'll get dressed. You can go wait at the table if you want."

Leo sat down on the bed, waiting patiently. The Italian quickly changed into his school clothes before heading towards the door, Leo following close behind.

After breakfast, at the school

As the Vargas family walked through the hallways of the school, Leo clung tightly to Lovino, looking around nervously.

"Ve~ I'm so happy that you're going to be in my class, Leo! Most of my friends are older than me, so I don't really know anyone in the class~" Feliciano said cheerfully.

That statement only made Leo's anxiety worse, and Lovino glared at his younger brother, who didn't notice.

"Okay, Leo, here's your classroom!" Nonno announced, holding open the door he stopped at.

Feliciano skipped into the classroom, Lovino and Leo following quietly. Inside, they found a cheerful adult in a police uniform sitting at a short table with an expressionless man and a boy holding a stuffed puffin.

"Ve~ Hi Mr. Lukas! Hi Emil! Hi Mr. Mathias! Shouldn't you be at work?"

The cheerful adult grinned. "Not yet! Beilschmidt said that I was to wait for Leo to get here safely, and then I could go in with your Nonno!"

"Ve~ Leo, that's Mr. Mathias, he's a please-man, and and and that's Mr. Lukas, he's our teacher, and and and that's Emil, he's in our class! He's also Mr. Lukas's little brother!" Feli said, pointing to each person in turn.

"You took a while to get here, the others will be arriving soon," Lukas said in a monotone, staring blankly at Nonno. "And if you don't leave soon, Officer Beilschmidt will get to the office before you and not let you in again."

"Ah, you're right! I must be going now! Have fun and make new friends, Leo!" Nonno shouted as he ran out the door.

"Wait, you're my ride! WAIT FOR ME!" Mathias called out as he ran after the older man.

Lovino scowled as he looked down where Nonno had gone.

"Idiot. That isn't even the right way to the car," he mumbled, causing Leo to giggle.

Lovino smiled at the small boy, shocking Lukas, who had never seen him smile before. Just then, a girl Leo hadn't seen before peeked in through the door.

"Lovino! Antonio and big brother are fighting again! Can you please make them stop?" she begged.

Lovino sighed. "Leo, why don't you color with Emil and Mr. Lukas? I need to go stop the idiot before he gets hurt."

Leo hesitantly nodded and went to sit by Emil, hiding his face in his bear's fur to mask the hurt reflected in his eyes.

"I'll be back at lunchtime, I promise," Lovino assured him as he ran out the door, following the little blonde girl.

Leo kept his face hidden in his bear's fur, letting it soak up his silent tears as he realized that Lovino had left him, again.

* * *

**AN: I'm so mean to Leo...**

**Next chapter will be the rest of the school day.**

**Please let me know what you think!**


	11. Chapter 10

As the morning progressed, Lukas grew more and more concerned about his newest student. The boy had yet to move from his seat since Lovino left, not ever noticing when someone tried to talk to him, though few children had even tried.

When the time came for outdoor play time, all of the class ran outside, save two: Leo and another shy student, Ivan. Having given up on trying to get Ivan to go outside long ago, he instead went to talk to Leo.

"Leo? Why are you still in here?" Lukas asked, sitting down next to the silent boy.

He did not receive any response.

"Leo? Are you alright?"

The boy just continued to stare blankly down at the table.

Seeing that Leo wasn't going to talk to him, he decided to see if the boy would talk to one of his classmates. Walking over to Ivan, Lukas crouched down next to him.

"Hey, Ivan, how are you doing?"

The boy eyed Lukas warily; usually the teacher would just leave him alone with his reading or coloring.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding cautious.

Lukas sighed. "Can you go see if Leo wants to play with you? It's his first day today, and he hasn't talked to anyone yet." _And it would be nice to see you have a friend._

The boy continued to stare at Lukas for a moment, then at the lone boy at the table.

"Having a friend would be nice. Big Sister would be happy if I had a friend," he said finally, picking up one of his pictures as he left his corner for the first time that day.

Lukas stayed back as he watched Ivan go up to Leo. Ivan tried talking to the smaller boy, but Leo didn't seem to notice. After a couple minutes, Ivan sat down across from Leo and slid his picture in front of Leo, who finally looked up, confused.

"For you," Ivan said simply, pushing the paper closer.

Leo took the paper, which had a crayon drawing of a sunflower on it.

"Thank you. It's pretty," Leo said shyly, speaking for the first time since entering the classroom.

"I'm happy you like it. You draw with me?" Ivan asked, looking hopeful.

"Okay."

Ivan stood up again, offering his hand to Leo. Leo hesitantly took it, following as Ivan led him back to his corner. The Russian showed Leo all his pictures, his secret crayon collection, and his favorite books, all of which were hidden in various areas of his corner. Leo hung onto his new friend's every word, looking happy that he had someone to talk to.

The two continued playing quietly in their corner, not noticing when the rest of the class returned inside. Feliciano smiled when he saw the pair, happy that his brother had made a new friend. He felt bad that he hadn't invited Leo to play with him and his friends, but he figured it was okay now that he was talking to Ivan, even if Ivan was a little scary. He happily returned to playing with Feliks, forgetting almost immediately what had made him happy in the first place.

* * *

**AN: I'm sorry, this is another short-ish chapter. One of these days, I will figure out how to write longer chapters, I promise.**

**Anyhow, is anyone interested in beta-reading a oneshot I am working on? I really need someone who will critique how it is written rather than the content. It's a sad-ish story, I think, if that has any impact on whether or not you would want to help. If you are interested, please send me a message!**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter!**


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